The 14th seed was losing by two sets to one against the Ukrainian – 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 – when he pulled himself out, claiming that he felt like he'd been "hit by a bus" and that he couldn't turn. "What's the f---ing point?" he moaned at his courtside trainer.

Kyrgios gesticulates with his courtside trainerCredit:
GETTY IMAGES

Nevertheless, a less than impressed McEnroe said: “Nick Kyrgios, if you don’t want to be a professional tennis player, do something else. He’s hurt because he’s not training enough.”

The Australian, however, attributed the injury to training and playing overload. He said: “It’s the whole year leading up to it with the whole schedule. I’ve got to take more time and be more diligent with gym and everything so this doesn’t happen to me.”

John McEnroe was less than impressed with Kyrgios' on-court demeanourCredit:
REX

Kyrgios had started the match in good form when he broke Marchenko on his first service game before winning the first set in comfortable fashion. But he may have injured himself during his spectacular third-set winner when he chased down a Marchenko drop shot before firing an excellent backhand around the net.

He failed to recover from that shot, moving gingerly thereafter, winning only six more games - and dropping serve on four occasions - before bringing the game to a premature end.

“It’s not going to get better by playing, I guess,” a dejected Kyrgios said after the match. “It’s tough. I don’t like to retire. It’s probably like the second or third time I’ve done it. It’s never easy, of course. I’ve got a lot of belief in my game to still win matches when I’m not feeling great."

Kyrgios added: "His [Marchenko's] strength is to make balls move you around. It’s not great. I mean, to be fair, my hip was bothering me my first two matches and I got through. I guess it was just a matter of time.”